RUOK? Day Activities:

During Week 8 the Young Leaders and House Captain’s joined forces to host the inaugural ‘House Spirit Week’. Students participated in sporting games during lunchtime, enjoy a pizza and donut lunch on Friday, found the mystery word by solving a scavenger hunt and showed the house spirit at a photo booth.

Rubicon Camp Report written by Liam Spinks from 8G:

Liam Spinks from 8G wrote a magnificent report to summarize his experience at Rubicon Camp. Thank you, Liam, for sharing this wonderful and honest piece of writing.

On August 13th a select group of year 8 students had the opportunity to visit Rubicon Outdoor Education Centre for the week. The first thing I noticed was their basketball court and big open grass. We sat down over at these rocks shaped like seats and were introduced to all the staff and assigned our groups. There were 4 groups, A, B, C and D. We got sizing for ski boots, skis and poles. We also got given a day pack, lunchbox and spare water bottle, as well as another jacket and pants for the snow. We were informed on all the rules and expectations that were to be followed and went over what we wanted to achieve during our time at Rubicon.

The 2nd day came, woken up by a loud blasting song through the room. My group was doing the mountain climb for the days activity. We got all our gear and hopped in the bus. Once we got there we got our harnesses and helmets. It was a bit of a hike for the first part. We had to do some little climbing over rocks, abseiling and fitting through tight spaces, but we got through it. It felt like such an achievement after reaching the very top of the mountain. The whole journey was about 3 and a half hours.

The 3rd morning was the most painful. I was tired from the mountain climb the day before. Weather was not in our favour today. We didn’t get much skiing done because of the bad winds we ended up having to cut the day short because of it. Now it was Groups C and D’s turn to go on the night bush walk. I’m glad I brought my torch with me because it was absolutely pitch black, could not even see a step-in front of me. It was good 1 and a half walk through the bush with a couple of teamwork games and listening games scattered through the walk made it fun.

4th morning, it was going to be the last day of activities and yet another long and tiring day. We had to do rafting because it was the only activity we hadn’t done yet, and it was the one I was dreading the most. The rapids were fun but a bid dodgy at the same time. A lot of the other students seemed to enjoy it but I wasn’t the biggest fan. We went rapid surfing and got absolutely drenched I warmed myself back up and was starting to enjoy myself. Our final activity for our last night was we had a short reflection task to do which didn’t take long. It gave us time to reflect on what we have learnt and what has been enjoyable. After that we just had outdoor free time. There was a fire going to stand by and the lights were on to play basketball, kick the footy and play volleyball.

It was the final morning. Our last activity wasn’t at the campus it was about 5 minutes down the road at a national park and we had this activity where we had to find these letters and numbers on the ground but had to use a map to find them. I quite enjoyed this activity. We got back and loaded the bus. We were ready to rock!

It was a great learning experience, I learnt a lot about teamwork and resilience. Working well in a team is a great life skill to have, so is to be resilient. I learned on how to be independent by making my own lunches, getting my water bottles and clothes ready for the morning. All these skills I have learned at Rubicon Outdoor Education Centre will help me to become a better individual and build a character of what I want to grow to be. I am thankful for what the Rubicon camp has done for me and will be forever grateful to be able to go on this outstanding camp. I recommend every future year 8 student to attend this camp if possible because of the great outcomes and knowledge it can give you for the rest of your life.

~ Liam Spinks 8G ~

Grade 5 Visits - Discovery Days:

On the 18th, 19th and 20th September, Fountain Gate Secondary College were fortunate enough to have Grade 5 students visit the College as part of the Grade 5 Discovery Day program. Students visited the College from Narre Warren North Primary School, Outlands Primary School, Fountain Gate Primary School and Berwick Lodge Primary School. The students had the opportunity to spend a day in the life of a high school student, experiencing a variety of subjects and learning activities facilitated by the teaching team at Fountain Gate Secondary College. Students participated in a range of activities across Technology, Health and Physical Education, Humanities, Science, Languages, Performing Arts, Maths and English domains. Many claimed they were disappointed they had to leave, but fortunately they were able to take home with them things they had created and memories made of their first sneak peek of high school life, as well as some excitement of what the future will bring.

Year 9 City Experience:

Thank you to Mason Edge from 9E, who has summed up his experience at City Experience;

From the 17th to the 20th of September 2018, the majority of Year 9 cohort, was given the mandatory opportunity to travel to the city on multiple occasions under the distant supervision of acquainted teachers. We were to travel by train from various compounds of transportation to meet with our previously designated pod groups. The experience was known throughout the Fountain Gate contingent and as such the attending myrmidons concurred the following.First Day: (group 2) were scheduled to take part on the walking tour from 9:45 am to 1.45 pm. The tour consisted visiting the state library, Melbourne City Baths, Bourke Street Mall, Riverslide Skate Park and the tan track.Second Day: Arrive rather early receiving the grand sight of the MCG, this would lead to us gaining insight on the interior of the concrete giant, later we then toured the sports museum where we learned about the history of sports and Olympics in Australia.Third Day: Shrine of Remembrance and Street Art were to fall upon itinerary of the third day, first off the shrine was without question educational and filled our hearts with aspects of patriotism, this monument built in honour of the fallen during world war one offered only salience towards those who fought for this country. The street art was to follow bringing about Melbourne’s very existence on the map, a plethora of vibrant deep meaningful art was to be witnessed throughout the gallery of the alleyways that dot the city.Fourth DAY: the final activities of city experience for group 2 was the amazing race and NGV exhibition. The amazing race required pods to go to specific locations and either take a picture there or write a statement there. At various places, there was a teacher there who gave the students a challenge to complete, the group that got the most points won. The NGV (national gallery of Victoria) was fortuitous in its nature as many of the artists were without reputations exceeding the public, thus we examined the deeper meanings in some of the artworks.

~ Mason Edge ~

Entrepreneurs Unearthed:

Congratulations to Hamda Abbas 10A, Ebony Mudie 11E and Kyezanne Holtzhausen 11C for being accepted to participate in Entrepreneurs Unearthed. Below is a summary from Hamda Abbas regarding her experience;

Entrepreneurs Unearthed was a wonderful and exciting experience that Ebony, Kyezanne and I got to be apart of. We were super thrilled when our application was successful, since we were one of the teams that got selected from across Melbourne. Throughout the program, we got to learn many entrepreneurial skills from them. We ended up making it into the finals and had the opportunity to pitch our business idea to a judges panel that was made up of successful CEO's and entrepreneurs. They really loved our idea and we won the Entrepreneurs Unearthed 2018. The best part for me was my dad's reaction when I got to tell him that we won.

~ Hamda Abbas ~

Holiday Programs:

Casey Teenage School Holiday Program - Spring 2018

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Department of Education and Training in partnership with City of Casey, is pleased to offer students 12-16 years of age a free place in City of Casey Youth Services Teenage School Holiday Program.

The Department will cover payment for the program to encourage students from CALD backgrounds to engage in holiday activities within their community and across Greater Melbourne.

This opportunity will encourage young people from secondary schools in the City of Casey to engage in planned recreational activities alongside peers and Youth Workers.

In addition, it will provide young people who may have not previously connected with City of Casey Youth Services to make connections with peers and Youth Services and learn about the range of services and activities they can engage in during term time and holiday periods.

ELIGIBILITY

The program aims to engage students that may not otherwise be engaged in school holiday programs.

Free places (payment to be covered by the Department of Education and Training) are available to:

Students from a CALD background enrolled and attending government secondary school in the City of Casey

Transportation to and from the program is available at designated pick up and drop off points throughout Cranbourne, Narre Warren, Hampton Park, Endeavour Hills and Doveton. For information on the transport schedule, please refer to the website link above or the Holiday Program Flyer.

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Enjoy your Term break:

Thank you to all our students, families and community members for a very busy, hard-working and successful term. It's hard to believe that we only have one more term to go for 2018.

A huge thank you to our teachers who have worked exceptionally hard to balance their commitment to professional learning, parent-teacher interviews, assessments and report writing during these past few weeks.

I sincerely hope you all enjoy a well deserved break. Please stay safe and make the most of the beautiful Spring weather.

Thank you.

Mr Pete Hanratty

College Principal

Newsletter Disclaimer

Information provided in the Fountain Gate Secondary College Newsletter may contain content from various resources used to educate and inform our community on a range of topics. These sources being the Internet, DET, Headspace, Educational Websites, Community News, Articles and Magazines. The College takes no credit or claim to have written these articles.

Fountain Gate Secondary College's High Achiever's Program has really aided me in achieving success during high school. A more mature and dynamic class environment really helped me learn and grow during high school.

Jessica Nikitina-Li - Year 12 School Captain

The High Achievers Program allows a brighter future and clear career path for my peers and myself. It has extended me to be able to succeed in multiple areas of study. We have been able to create a strong classroom environment where it is easy to learn, focus and make friends.

Charlotte Mager - Year 8 HAP Student

I enjoy being challenged by my teachers to strive and accomplish more. I enjoy making friends in that class and having a better workspace without interruptions. I also like having work that is suited to my ability and interest.

Sam Verhagen - Year 7 HAP Student

Advice for FGSC students: “Work hard and dream big. Have faith in everything that happens for good – you may not realise it now but you will later on.”

Bariah Ahmad - 2016

Emma Berry - 2012

Being a part of HAP for the past three years at FGSC has been something that I have always enjoyed and felt privileged to be a part of because it has provided me with an engaging academic environment by setting goals and challenges for both my peers and I.

Ngoc Tran - Year 9 School Year Level Captain

Advice for FGSC students: “You only live once so take every opportunity that comes your way, be determined.”

Hayden Reid - 2014

The High Achiever Program gives me and others the opportunity to excel. The work is interesting and catered to my learning. I feel that the program is preparing me for my future and will give me an upper hand to VCE.